Conducting A Market Analysis

Conducting A Market Analysis

As an entrepreneur you will be coming up with a business plan for a product or service that you think is going to be a big hit, so where do you go from here? The first thing an entrepreneur should do is conduct a market analysis, which is an in depth assessment of potential target market, competition and need for a product or service. Conducting a market analysis also provides a realistic and honest assessment of the viability of your new idea. It also provides you with critical information and data necessary to successfully start and grow a business. The first step is to identify your product; you can do this by creating a customer profile of your target market. If your target audience is a consumer you should determine your customers age, gender and income level of your audience. If your target audience is businesses you should determine company size, industry, and number of employees. Conducting a market analysis and being in sync with your customers’ wants and needs is a lot of work but it is worth it in the long run. Knowing where your consumers are coming from gives you the tools to correctly identify how they will react in your market. In figuring this out you will be able to focus your attention on those details that are most important to your consumers. Targeting a niche is a great way for small companies to take advantage of a market that large companies cannot afford to take a chance on while also offering a competitive advantage that large companies do not have.

Knowing your competitors is essential to gaining understanding of the market. Knowing your industry is important and specially paying attention to current business buying trends as well as trends within your industry. Paying attention to business trends in your industry will allow you to gain insight on how to eventually position your product successfully. Researching industry trends will also allow your business plan to be more efficient because it is based on real life circumstances. Once you are certain that your business idea will reach your specified level of success, consider making sure that your market will be receptive to accepting your product or service. If you are investing your own capital you will want to make sure that you have protection by making sure that you have done all of your homework.